The Lord hath made bare his holy arm,
and the eyes of all the nations, and
all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
On Lord's Day morning, the 28th of March,
in the year 1858, young Mr. Spurgeon, in
his early twenties, was preaching to a massive
crowd of 10,000 people in the Surrey
Gardens Music Hall in London.
He prefaced his sermon with the following remarks,
My heart is glad within me this day,
for I am the bearer of good tidings.
My soul has been made exceedingly full of
happiness by the tidings of a great revival
of religion throughout the United States of America.
Some hundred years or more ago, it pleased
the Lord to send one of the most
marvelous religious awakenings that was ever to be
known in that country.
The whole of the United States seemed to
be shaken from end to end with enthusiasm
for hearing the Word of God.
But now, after the lapse of a century,
the like has occurred again.
The monetary pressure has at length departed from
the United States, but it has left behind
it the rack of many mighty fortunes.
Many men who once were princes have now
become beggars, and in America more than in
England, men have learned the instability of human
things.
The minds of men thus weaned from the
earth by terrible and unexpected panic seem prepared
to receive tidings from a better land and
to turn their exertions to better things.
Those who are conversant with what is happening
in this state of America will tell you
that there is a remarkable sign that religion
is progressing with majestic strides.
The great revival, as it is now called,
has become the common market talk of merchants.
It is the theme of every newspaper, even
the secular press remark upon it, because it
is becoming so astonishing that all ranks and
classes of men seem to be affected by
it.
Apparently, without any cause whatever, fear has taken
hold of the hearts of men.
A thrill seems to be shot through every
breast at once.
And it is affirmed by men of good
repute that there are at this time towns
in New England where you could not, even
if you searched, find one solitary, unconverted person.
So marvelous, I'd almost said so miraculous, has
been the sudden and instantaneous spread of religion
through the great empire.
It is scarcely possible for us to believe
the half of it, even though it should
be told us.
And then after warning his congregation about counterfeits
in the field of revival, Mr. Spurgeon said,
You will therefore be surprised at finding me
speaking of revival.
But you will perhaps not be quite so
surprised when I endeavor to explain what I
mean by an earnest and intense desire, which
I feel in my heart, that God would
be pleased to send throughout this country of
England a revival like that which has commenced
in America and which we trust will long
continue there.
Little did Mr. Spurgeon know that at the
very time he uttered those words, four young
men were meeting each week in a little
village called Kales in the county of Antrim
in Northern Ireland.
And they were pleading with God in a
day of spiritual dearth and declension to open
the windows of heaven and pour upon them
a blessing that there would not be room
enough to receive.
And in 1859 the heavens were opened and
a deluge unparalleled in the history of my
country took place in the great awakening and
revival of 1859 when within twelve months a
hundred thousand souls were swept into the kingdom
of God.
And the spiritual desert began to blossom like
a rose.
The impetus of that revival remains to this
day.
Today as never before among the people of
God there has come a thirst, a thirst
for another such intervention of the Most High
God.
The devil is aware of this.
He has produced the counterfeits of the charismatic
itch as I call it and the torrential
blessing demonstration.
But the counterfeits proclaim loudly the unique value
of the real thing.
You only counterfeit something that is real.
And the real genuine revival is what the
people of God are thirsting for.
I believe that the Holy Scriptures attest with
thunderous power and church history affirms with confirming
unchallengeable evidence that God, the sovereign God of
heaven, is the God of revival.
Brethren, I believe that the one God of
heaven and earth in the trinity of His
sacred persons, the Eternal Father, the Eternal Son
and the Eternal Spirit is going to pour
out upon His church in our day an
infusion of His power that the ends of
this earth that is tamed and fettered and
darkened and destroyed and soiled and stained by
the power of hell will see the salvation
of our God.
Away with the lie that the true God
of heaven and earth is dead.
Our God lives.
And He is still the God of Elijah
and He still answers His people by the
holy fire of His blessed Spirit.
On the occasion that I have just mentioned,
Mr. Spurgeon preached on this text that I
am taking this morning.
If you have copies of his sermons, do
read that great sermon that he delivered.
I want to handle this text in an
entirely different way from which Mr. Spurgeon handled
it.
I want you to look with me now
at this text and you will find within
it five scriptural principles of revival might.
Five scriptural principles of revival might.
It starts with the Lord.
It is in small capitals in your authorized
or King James Version as you call it.
The Lord, that is Jehovah.
The covenant triune Jehovah God.
The only true and living God.
That is the source of revival.
It goes on, and it saith, hath me
it bare His holy arm.
That is the only text in the Bible
where God's naked holiness, His holy arm naked,
me it bare.
That is the solemnity of revival.
In the eyes of all the nations, that
is the sight of revival.
And all the ends of the earth shall
see, that is the sweep of revival.
The salvation of our God, that is the
salvation of revival.
Let us approach today with a humility of
spirit.
And let us look at these five foundations
of the might of revival.
Because I believe that true revival is unlimited
by human agency.
And requires no human powers whatsoever to forward
its march forward.
The source of revival is our sovereign God.
Let me affirm, though it smashes the intellectual
pride that is in the heart of all
men and women through the fall of Adam.
That this revival has its spring and has
its source in God alone.
It requires no aids of man for its
commencement.
It requires no help of man for its
continuation.
And it requires no zeal of man for
its culmination.
It is God in the beginning.
It is God in the continuing.
And it is God in the climaxing.
It is God in the start.
It is God in the swelling.
And it is God in the succeeding.
God is its alpha and omega and all
the letters in between.
As of salvation, so of God's revival power.
Salvation is of the Lord.
Revival is of the Lord.
Let us make a clear distinction between revival
and revivalism.
The ism, revivalism, is the work of man.
Revival is the work of God.
No price can buy it.
No human learning can attain to it.
No church can order it.
No preacher can impart it.
And no talent of man can produce it.
God gives it freely.
It is not an attainment.
It is an obtainment.
It is God alone who orders it.
It is God alone who imparts it.
It is God alone who produces it.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, or where
it willeth.
And thou hearest the sound thereof.
But canst not tell whence it cometh, or
whither it goeth.
So as every one that is born of
the Spirit.
And let me tell you, revival is born
of the Holy Ghost.
And He is sovereign.
He breathes where He wills.
Oh, for the blowing of the sovereign wind
of God.
Oh, to hear the sound of God on
the mulberry tree.
And to know that God has made bare
His arm.
To the astonishment of the powers of hell.
And the destruction of the powers of darkness.
And has commenced again in this old world.
A mighty revival of true religion.
The Lord commences revival.
The Lord controls revival.
And the Lord concludes it.
And no effort of man can stop it.
No effort of man can control it.
And no effort of man can continue it.
When God brings it to a conclusion.
Its source is the Lord.
Let us look at the solemnity of revival.
How solemn.
How sacred.
And how terrifying.
Is the Lord when He makes bare His
holy arm.
As I have said to you.
This is the only scripture that refers to
God's naked holiness.
The bearing of His holy arm.
Of course Isaiah was referring here to a
custom of oriental monarchs.
And when there was a crisis in the
nation.
A great assembly was called by royal proclamation.
A platform was erected upon which the king
would stand.
The great men of the kingdom were there.
The councilors.
The great men of the army were there.
And the populace of the nation were there.
And the king went up to the platform.
And the atmosphere was tense with excitement and
anticipation.
And then the king took off his royal
robe.
And then he started to uncover his arm.
And fold down his tunic until his arm
was bare.
And then he took with that bare arm
the sword from its scabbard.
And he raised it on high.
And when the mighty throng saw the bare
arm of the king holding the sword.
They cried it is war.
It is war.
That's what Isaiah has taught.
When God makes bare His arm.
And war commences against the forces of hell.
And the forces of darkness.
And the forces of sin.
When the blood of the enemies of the
gospel are upon the garments of the rider
on the white horse.
And when he goes forth conquering and to
conquer.
But it is an awful thing when God
unveils His holy arm.
Let me say to you the naked holiness
of God is a terrible thing for His
enemies.
But it is also a terrible thing for
His people.
If you turn back in Isaiah to the
33rd chapter.
You will find there a vision of God.
Verse 13 of Isaiah chapter 33.
Hear ye that are afar off what I
have done.
And ye that are near acknowledge my might.
The sinners in Zion are afraid.
There should be no sinners in Zion.
Zion is not the place for sinners.
Zion is the place for sin.
But here we find that Zion is a
place of sinners.
If judgment first begin in the house of
God.
Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
And dear sinner without hope, without faith.
What hope is there for you when the
sinners in Zion.
God's own people how be it.
In their sin tremble.
How should you not tremble with no hope,
no light.
No peace, no pardon and no future.
But eternal hell and the caverns of the
damned.
And the torments of the pit forever.
The sinners in Zion are afraid.
Fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites.
And when God makes bare His arm.
He uncovers the hypocrisy of the church.
Hypocritical praying.
Hypocritical show of a false bastard holiness.
A hypocritical display of godliness.
Which is not godliness at all.
For it denies the power of the law.
What a terrible thing when God makes bare
His arm.
The hypocrites are shot out and exposed.
They are surprised.
And here is the question.
Who among us shall dwell with the devouring
fire?
Not talking about hell here.
This is not hell.
This is God.
God is the devouring fire.
I ask you the question.
Who amongst us today in this congregation of
God's people can dwell with the devouring fire?
And God started His devouring fire in our
hearts today.
What would be left of our Christian experience?
What would be left of our Christian service?
Would it be wood?
Hay?
Unstable?
Burned in judgment?
Oh yes, you yourselves see it so as
with fire.
For you are not saved by virtue.
You are saved by grace.
Nothing can alter justified people being justified in
God's sight.
Nothing can alter that.
But our service?
You know when God starts a revival, we
have the judgment day brought forward.
And the judgment starts to take place in
their lives.
Making bare His mighty arm.
Go down that chapter.
Who will dwell with the everlasting burning?
I'll tell you.
The man who has the right walk.
He that walketh righteously.
The man who has the right speech and
speaketh rightly.
What about our walk?
What about our talk?
God makes bare His arm.
He deals with our walk.
He deals with our talk.
He despises the game of oppressions that shaketh
His hands from holding of bribes, that stubbeth
His ears from hearing of blood, that shutteth
His eyes from seeing evil.
Examine yourself today in the light of God
making bare His arm.
And ask ourselves, can we dwell with this
everlasting burning?
Can we stand before the devouring fire?
And the man that does that dwells, abides
on high.
His place of defense shall be the munition
of rocks.
Bread shall be given him.
His waters shall be sure.
And he shall see the King in His
beauty.
Blessed are the pure at heart.
For they shall see God.
The solemnity of revival.
The sight of revival.
You will notice that the nations are going
to see it.
In the eyes of all the nations.
They're going to behold it.
What are they going to behold?
They're going to behold God dealing with the
sins of saints.
That's the first thing they're going to see.
You see, the world knows the hypocrisy of
the church.
The world knows the hypocrisy of God's people.
The world knows the way God's children act.
And the way they live.
And they say those are supposed to be
the people of God.
But when the world sees God taking a
deal in with His people.
And searching out their sins.
And the church of Jesus Christ purifying itself.
Forsaking the old ways of hypocrisy and worldliness.
Do you remember the men that God searched
in the Old Testament?
When He made bare His arm?
We think of Adam and Eve.
They once were holy.
They once greeted God in the cool of
the day.
And walked hand in hand with their Holy
Creator.
Then there came a day when the holy
pair became unholy.
And they tried to cover the wretched nakedness
of their sin by sowing fig leaves together.
But there was no hiding place among the
trees.
No hiding place behind the leaves that they
sowed together.
From God when He came to search them
out.
And exposed them.
Do you remember that holy man who walked
with God?
Noah.
Do you remember after the flood?
He became a drunkard.
And in his tent there was a terrible
act of evil committed by a younger son.
And God exposed it to the nations of
the earth even to this day.
The holy arm of God puts it on
the record.
What God does when He searches the hearts
of His people.
What about that once faithful Abraham?
Who lied before the unrighteous kings of Egypt.
And of the Philistines.
And God took a dealing with Abraham.
And the nations saw the sin of the
saint.
And the lie of a man who was
the friend of God.
And what about Jacob?
God searched out his sin.
And the man who tricked his own father
in the guise of the firstborn.
Was tricked by his father-in-law.
In the guise of the firstborn daughter of
his father-in-law.
When God searches a man or a woman.
And takes a dealing with one of His
saints.
It is thorough.
It is total.
There is no stopping.
No man can say to the Holy Ghost.
So far and no further.
For He that made the believer is the
one that can bend and break and search
and sanctify the believer.
And when God does His terrible work of
searching and bending.
There will go up a cry from the
church.
Oh God have mercy upon us for our
sins.
Oh God forgive us for our iniquities.
Oh God cleanse us from our uncleanness.
Oh God save us from going back to
the old paths of apathy.
And the old paths of hypocrisy.
Oh God do something in my life that
those around me will know that God is
the doer of it.
And remember the gifts and calling of God
are without repentance.
The nations will see when the church is
humbled.
They will see when the church is confessing
and wearing the sackcloth.
They will see the church not walking arm
in arm with the world.
But walking the path of separation.
Look at verse 11 of my chapter.
Following this 10th verse.
Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from
hence.
Touch no unclean thing.
There is the walk of the church when
God has made bare His mighty arm.
And holiness is excelled in.
Grace is abounding.
Prayer is overflowing.
Service is done with zeal.
Their sacrifice abundant that church has become fair
as a morning.
And fair as a sun.
And terrible as an army with banners.
Why?
Because God has done this searching and it
has been so thorough that the nations around
see it.
And they behold the church prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband.
What about the sweep of revival?
And all the ends of the earth shall
see.
You see, this thing was done in the
eyes of all the nations.
But only the ends of the earth sought.
That is, perceived it.
The nations were spectators.
The ends of the earth were those that
participated in it.
And received it.
And became partakers of it.
The more you read the Bible, the more
you discover your own ignorance.
I have often read that expression, the ends
of the earth.
And I thought that meant the extremities of
the earth.
I remember once as a young preacher, preaching
on that great, great text, Look unto me
all ye ends of the earth.
And I said to my congregation, we are
in Northern Ireland.
That is one of the ends of the
earth.
So this message is for you.
I am sure the Lord graciously forgave me
for my folly.
You know what the ends of the earth
in Scripture means?
It means the whole of the elect people
of God.
You say that is a tall story to
tell anybody.
But that is what the Bible says it
means.
That is what the Bible says it means.
You know, if you want to find out
what a particular statement in Scripture means, you
have to bring to bear upon it three
simple little rules.
The law of the first mention.
The law of the further mention.
And the law of the final mention.
Where is this statement first mentioned?
It is mentioned in Deuteronomy chapter 33 and
verse 17.
He shall push the people together to the
ends of the earth.
You say, well, I am not following you
preacher.
Well, do not just be so quick about
it.
That is the law of the first mention.
He is going to push the people together
to the very ends of the earth.
Could I remind you of the second Psalm?
What did God the Father ask His Son
to pray for?
He asked His Son to pray that God
would give Him.
He would give Him something.
We might just turn to the Psalm.
And look at it, Psalm 2.
The prayers of Jesus make a wonderful study.
It is nice to eavesdrop on His great
prayer in John 17.
And listen to Christ as He prayed.
But here, instead of the Son requesting something,
the Father is requesting the Son to pray
this prayer.
And I shall give thee the heathen for
thine inheritance, and the utmost parts of the
earth for thy possession.
The ends of the earth pushed together.
This is of course like Shiloh.
Unto Him shall the gathering of the people
be.
But then when you come to the further
mention, you get a little more light on
it.
I Samuel chapter 2 and verse 10.
The Lord shall judge the ends of the
earth, and He shall give strength unto His
King, and exalt the horn of His anointing.
The non-elector described as the adversaries of
the Lord dare to be broken in pieces,
and out of heaven shall He thunder upon
them.
But then we have a change.
The Lord shall judge the ends of the
earth.
Not the judgment of vengeance, but the judgment
of a healing power.
For He shall give strength unto His King,
and exalt the horn of His anointing.
And the last reference is in the New
Testament, in the book of Acts.
Acts chapter 13 and verse 47.
I have sent thee to be a light
of the Gentiles, that thou shouldst be for
salvation unto the ends of the earth.
Do you remember the great word of the
prophet?
Look unto me, O ye ends of the
earth, and be ye saved.
For I am God, and there is none
else.
And then revival.
God brings in in a mighty way His
people.
He sees His seed born and brought in.
He sees His seed educated and brought up.
He sees His seed supported and brought through.
He sees His seed glorified and brought through.
Those that were given to Christ, a great
multitude which no man can number.
You know, you find out when you read
that passage what was the Lord's objective when
He died.
What did He die for?
He died to save a great multitude which
no man can number.
And from time to time, God sends gracious
revivals to His church.
What to do?
To make a number that no man...
That's what He does.
He accomplishes the great work of the cross.
And all down through church history, we have
seen this.
And in times of dearth and degeneracy, and
it looked as if the old days had
passed forever, then suddenly there was a burst
of power.
Suddenly God moved.
Suddenly the old power, the old power of
the Spirit came afresh upon the church.
And what happened as our brother read to
us today?
The church awoke.
Awake!
Put on thy strength, O Zion.
And put on thy beautiful garments.
The church is not in beautiful garments today.
But when revival comes, she'll be dressed in
those beautiful garments, zealous for the work of
the Lord.
Finally, the salvation of our God, the salvation
of revival.
Revival multiplies what God does in the usual
life of the church.
In the usual life of the church, sinners
are converted to Christ.
But there's no difference between the way the
Lord saves a sinner in a time of
dearth and the way the Lord saves a
sinner in the time of revival.
It's the same work of grace.
It's the same act of justification.
It's the same application of the same blood
that takes away the stain of sin and
makes a man a new creature in Christ
and old things pass away and old things
become new.
Well, what's the difference?
The difference is in the numbers.
We preach, we pray, we wrestle and we
see here and there a little of God's
blessing.
And then suddenly, God makes various arms.
And it's not dozens are being converted.
It's hundreds.
It's not hundreds.
It's thousands.
And it's not a local community has moved.
It is the whole country has moved.
What is it?
God is showing him His salvation, the salvation
of our God.
And that brings us to the way men
are saved.
And they are saved because Jesus Christ on
the cross accomplished for them the full payment
of their debt.
In my own Bible reading the other day,
I was reading in the 21st chapter of
Exodus, Exodus chapter 21, verses 24 and 25,
and I was reading about the inflexibility of
God's law.
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for
hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound
for wound, stripe for stripe.
There could be no departure from the inflexibility
of God's law.
At the cross, it was eye for eye,
tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for
foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe
for stripe.
I was deeply moved by the climax.
Wound for wound, stripe for hidden, and the
whole of the old economy is the glorious
gospel of redeeming grace.
The gospel is there with eyes to see
it.
Oh, thank God for the wounds of Jesus.
And thank God by His stripes, we are
healed.
The salvation of God in the darkness, impenetrable
darkness of the cross, in the blood shedding,
the inexplicable blood shedding of the cross, in
the agony, the immeasurable agony of the cross,
Jesus Christ made a full payment of our
debts.
And the sentence has been reversed, absolutely and
irreversibly, and there is no charge against the
soul who is washed in the blood of
the Lamb.
Who is He that condemneth?
It is Christ that died.
Aye, and yea, rather if it was risen
again, if He hadn't paid your full debt,
His body would still be held in the
tomb.
He rose because we were justified.
That's why He rose.
There's a hymn that says, rising He justified.
That's not scriptural.
He rose because we were justified.
He was delivered because of our offenses.
He was raised again because of our justification.
Couldn't keep Jesus Christ in the tomb because
He had satisfied all the claims of a
broken law against us.
He had fulfilled His covenant engagements, and He
had sealed the everlasting covenant with His blood,
and it was finished.
Finished forever.
Hell's gates are barred against me.
Heaven's doors are open to me.
Why?
Because Jesus died for me.
He was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was laid in
Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
I want you to notice something.
I want you to notice those words.
He was wounded for our transgressions.
Our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was laid in
Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
You know, an ungodly man can't say that.
Your dear sinner can't say that.
Harry Ironside said a very good thing.
He said many good things, but one of
the greatest things he ever said that helped
me to understand Scripture was this.
Remember there are family texts in the Bible,
and they're only applicable if you're a member
of the family.
And this is a family text.
He was wounded for our transgressions.
Who has owned shall bear our sins in
His own body to the tree.
That's a family text.
If you're not in the family, you can't
claim it.
But thank God the new birth puts us
into the family, and every one of these
texts are true for you and me.
Every one of them.
What a heritage of family texts are yours
when you're a child of God.
Wounded for me.
There on the cross, He was wounded for
me.
Gone my transgressions, and now I am free,
all because Jesus was wounded for me.
Dear sinner friend, get into God's family today.
Ye must be born again.
The only qualification you need is a recognition
of your sinnership.
You're lost.
I had good news this morning before I
came to this service.
I was walking from the family room where
my wife and I had a bite of
breakfast, and a young man stopped us on
the campus, and he said, I want to
tell you something to encourage you.
He said, there was a student heard you
preach on Friday night.
A young man called Nathan Lohor, and he
went away, and he had a terrible night
all Friday night, under conviction of his sin.
And he said he came into our dormitory
on Saturday, and he said, you'll have to
lead me to Christ.
I must be saved.
And he closed with Christ, freely offered to
him in the gospel.
And I said, well if he's a low
horn, he'll now be a loud horn.
He'll have something to blow, won't he?
That God, for Christ's sake, had forgiven him.
Oh, I tell you sinner, there's room at
the cross for you.
Come and 10,000 welcomes to Jesus Christ
as Bunyan put it in his great book.
There's 10,000 welcomes for the sinner at
the cross.